A crumbling old house, a pair of mysterious children, and a plea that reaches across time. When two siblings encounter unsettled spirits with unfinished business, they’re drawn into a perilous tangle of secrets and courage. The Ghosts is a haunting, heart-tugging tale of second chances and the power of doing what’s right.
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Start or resume Shelf TalkThese picks are popular with readers who enjoyed this book. Possible spoilers below.
In The Ghosts, did you enjoy the time-slip mission to save children in peril?
If what gripped you in The Ghosts was Lucy and Jamie stepping back in time to stop the fire that killed Sara and Georgie after Mr. Blunden’s mysterious plea, you’ll love Moondial. Minty discovers a moondial that sends her into the past, where she meets Sarah and Tom—children trapped by cruelty and superstition—and takes on a perilous quest to free them. Like Lucy’s resolve to change a terrible fate, Minty’s determined rescues build to tense night journeys, clandestine meetings, and a brave confrontation with the forces holding the children captive.
In The Ghosts, did you enjoy unraveling a house's tragic past through clues and ghostly traces?
You enjoyed following Lucy and Jamie as they piece together what really happened to Sara and Georgie—the whispers, the old rooms, the dreadful secret behind the fire. In A Stitch in Time, Maria hears echoes and sees impressions of a Victorian girl, Harriet, in a seaside house. She follows delicate clues—an old sampler, a hidden photograph, a recurring bell—to uncover how Harriet’s life ended. It’s the same gentle, eerie sleuthing across centuries, with a satisfying reveal that makes the past feel heartbreakingly present.
In The Ghosts, did you enjoy a small, haunted house setting where children befriend the past?
If you cherished the quiet, close-knit feel of the Blunden house—Lucy and Jamie exploring creaking corridors, making friends with Sara and Georgie in whispered, candlelit moments—The Children of Green Knowe offers the same intimate magic. Young Tolly stays with his great-grandmother in an ancient manor and befriends the playful ghost-children who still live there. The story lingers on cozy rooms, river mists, and the tender bonds that grow between a living boy and the past that still rustles in the walls.
In The Ghosts, did you enjoy the bittersweet reveal that reframes a ghostly friendship across time?
Like the moving end of The Ghosts, when saving Sara and Georgie doesn’t just fix a puzzle but heals a wound between past and present, Tom’s Midnight Garden builds to a beautiful emotional turn. Tom slips each night into a garden from another era and befriends Hatty; their bond deepens as seasons—and years—rush by. The final reveal of who Hatty really is delivers that same lump-in-the-throat feeling, transforming a ghostly adventure into a memory you’ll carry.
In The Ghosts, did you enjoy a clear, high-stakes quest that sends a modern child into the past to set things right?
If you loved how Lucy and Jamie take on Mr. Blunden’s charge—racing against time to prevent a fatal fire—Playing Beatie Bow gives you another urgent, purpose-driven journey. Abigail is swept from modern Sydney to 1873 and becomes entangled with the Bow family, whose future depends on her. To get home, she must help them fulfill a dangerous prophecy, facing street gangs, secrets, and a heart-tugging choice that tests her courage much like Lucy’s resolve to change history.
